Pleasant Valley High School takes day to honor famed graduate Aaron Rodgers

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Lance Brogden, student government advisor at Pleasant Valley High School, wears his "cheese-head" hat in celebration of graduate Aaron Rodgers, who is now quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.(Bill Husa/Staff Photo)<p class='dotPhoto'>All Chico E-R photos are available <a href='http://chicoer.mycapture.com/'>here</a>.</p>

CHICO — Students, faculty and staff at Pleasant Valley High School took time Friday to honor the individual who is undoubtedly the biggest man on campus, even if he hasn”t been on campus on a regular basis since 2002.

On Sunday, Chico native and PVHS graduate Aaron Rodgers will step into one of the brightest spotlights in sports as he leads the Green Bay Packers in the National Football Conference Championship against the Chicago Bears.

Friday, the people at his old high school wanted to send positive energy his way.

After graduating from PV High in 2002, Rodgers went on to play for Butte College and later UC Berkeley before being drafted by the Packers.

Everybody on the PV campus was encouraged to wear some flavor of Green Bay”s green and yellow colors.

Few on campus had something truly representing Green Bay to wear, but shirts featuring the Oregon Ducks and Brazilian soccer teams, both of which wear green and yellow, and anything else with the proper color scheme, were in evidence all over.

Principal John Shepherd, who coached Rodgers when the star was a freshman basketball player with size-14 feet, said he and the pro quarterback had been in contact regularly over the years.

He said Rodgers is “one of those people you want your kids to be around.”

Shepherd, who was wearing a replica of the all-pro blue and white jersey that Rodgers once wore, was carrying a “cheese-head,” a wedge-shaped yellow rubber hat worn by Packers fans.

Lance Brogden, student government advisor, said the student officers and the school”s coaches, many of whom had coached the now-pro, were responsible for launching the Rodgers” day event.

Brogden, with a cheese hat firmly on his head, admitted his cheese-head was one of two the principal had purchased when he attended a Green Bay home game.

Kelly Brand, a senior class representative in student government, conceded she wasn”t a football fan and probably wouldn”t watch Sunday”s game, but she was wearing green because she wanted to honor the school”s famed graduate.

Nick Lopez, sophomore class vice president, who was wearing a green Brazilian jersey, said, while he doesn”t usually watch football, he was going to see Sunday”s game.

Since it was just short of blasphemy to even think that Green Bay might not triumph Sunday, Shepherd said there is already talk of another “spirit day” just before the Super Bowl in February, but the principal said he”d like to see the emphasis expanded beyond PV, and he hopes the whole community will rally behind Rodgers.

Staff writer Roger H. Aylworth can be reached at 896-7762 or raylworth@chicoer.com.